The Casa Newsletter - Fall 2010

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CasaNewsletterCasaNewsletterCasaNewsletterThe St. Francis Festival& Blessing of the Animalswill take place this year on October30 & 31 from 10 AM until 3 PM. Ifyou haven't been to the St. FrancisFestival, you have certainly misseda most special event - acelebration and custom that iscontinued in remembrance of St.Francis of Assisis love of allcreatures. The blessings will beconducted at Noon and 2:00 PM

each day by the Franciscan friarswho tirelessly and fearlessly makesure that every pet of every size,shape and color is blessed.

Phoenix Animal Care Coalition(PACC911) will be coordinating theparticipation of over 65 rescue andadoption groups for the 9th AnnualPet Adopt-A-Thon. Historically,400 pets will be adopted orfostered as a result of the event.This is the most productive eventin the state for adoptions and byfar the largest in the southwest!There will also be a benefit dogwash. Mark your calendar andcome join us for a day of fun, petadoptions, laughter, food, petblessings and a day to celebratethe special bond we have with ourfurry friends.

Fall 2010

Dear Friends,

The Franciscan Renewal Center exists to witness the Franciscanway of life and share with others a vision that captures thetransformative influence of Franciscan spirituality for peace andgood in the world. So it is with great joy that we introduce theFranciscan Mentors Program beginning in October 2010.

Our vision is thattheFranciscan Mentors Programwill serve tobetter educate a group of community members about ourfounders, history, values and the Franciscan way of life. In turn,these community members would then serve as mentors to therest of the community. The program will involve courses, retreats, prayer days, films andexperiences such as visits to the San Carlos Mission and sessions on how to be amentor.

I invite you to learn more about the Mentors Program and come to a kick-off dinnerhosted by the friars on October 29, 2010. There you will get your questions answeredand enjoy some delicious medieval food for only $10 per person. Registration is required

please contact Wendy Wood at 480-948-7460 x157 or go online to our website to findmore information and have the opportunity to register: on the opening web page, click onPrograms and Retreats, then Program Calendar and Registration and scroll down toOctober 29.

Along with our Mentors Program this Fall, we have a wonderful slate of retreats,programs and events supporting our vision. Some are explicitly based on Franciscan

spirituality or what we refer to as The Franciscan Way. We hope you will consider ourofferings and find something that stirs your soul. I look forward to seeing you on ourpeaceful grounds.

Peace and all good,

Fr. Joe Schwab, OFMExecutive Director

Volunteer highlight: Francis makes the garden grow

Francis Pacyga ministers in his own way at the Casa as do a dozen other gardeningministry volunteers. Shortly after Francis began celebrating liturgy at the Casa, trials

and tribulations set in. The Casa became a spiritual anchor, a place to recover andheal from hip replacement, his mothers death and a job loss. Trained in agricultureand horticulture, he now gives back to the Casa with his horticultural talents andexperience by refurbishing and refreshing the landscape.Soon after he began volunteering at the Casa, he told family and friends I am theright guy, in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. He even reverted tousing his birth name of Francis. He states that as a result of volunteering and makingdonations to the Casa his rough edges have become softer while physicallyrecovering from hip surgery and transforming his spirit about the loss of his mother.And he has a new business doing professional landscaping as Francis the Gardener.Francis invites others to join him in his volunteer ministry.

The


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The Casa welcomes two deaconsThe Casa has been blessed by the recent assignment of two deacons, Deacon HervLemire, OFM and Deacon Sebastian Sandoval, OFM.

Deacon Herv Lemire was ordained a diocesan deacon in 1975. A tireless supporterof the Franciscan Casa Franciscanamission in Guaymas, Mexico since 1986,

Deacon Herv has brought many volunteers to Guaymas who donated their talent andmuscle. He raised significant funds to build chapels, a large soup kitchen, a childrensclub and even a few homes.

In 2005, Deacon Herv was named an "honorary friar-brother." In the proclamation,he was cited for distinguished service in ministry in the St. Barbara Province based inCalifornia and the Brother Junipero Serra Province based in northern Mexico. It alsoincluded induction into the Order of Friars Minor. Deacon Herv was given the brownhabit and hood of St. Francis in a celebration in Guaymas.

On Friday, August 13, 2010, Deacon Sebastian, OFM was ordained to the transitionaldiaconate by Bishop Robert Brom, DD, of the Diocese of San Diego. Deacon Sebastianhas since been assigned to the Casa to complete his training in preparation for eventual

ordination to the priesthood.

Deacon Sebastian was born and raised in the Los Angeles area and prior to enteringthe Franciscan order worked for the Office of the District Attorney, County of LosAngeles. Since completing his theological studies at the Franciscan School of Theologyin Berkeley, his ministries have included serving as a hospital chaplain at LucilePackard Children's Hospital at Stanford University and at Alta Bates Summit MedicalCenter in Berkeley and serving as the Associate Director of Vocations for the Dioceseof Oakland. Deacon Sebastian comes to us from St. Mary's Basilica in Phoenix wherehe completed his pastoral year internship.

Deacon Herv Lemire receivesa Franciscan habit fromprovincial minister JavierGomez and Friar John Peterson.

Staff highlight: Casa kitchen crew feeds the hungry

Fr. Rusty ShaughnessyOFM, the formerretreat director at the Casa, has beenknown to remark that one of the mostimportant aspects of a successful retreatis the meals. If a retreatant has a hungrystomach, they probably will miss themessage and other important aspects ofthe retreat experience. We took a lessonfrom Fr. Rusty and, through the grace ofGod and Francis, have assembled thefantastic crew we are presently blessedto have in the kitchen. It is a juggling actto prepare and execute menus thatfollow Franciscan simplicity and budgetyet are tasty and appealing and theseartisans manage to do it every day.

From feeding one to several hundred, they make it all seem so easy.

Chef Elias Zamora leads the team. He admits that in the ten years he commuted past the Casa on his way to work atScottsdale resorts, he was unaware of the Casas existence. Elias cousin, Jorge Garcia, is Elias right arm and souschef. Both men treasure the Casa for the environment is which they are able to work and the benefit they are able toprovide to others. Elias likes to tell his wife that work is like going to church each day and it is. Juan and Santoworked with Elias at a previous restaurant. Jake is the kitchen veteran and is grateful for all he has learned over theyears from Elias and Jorge. Jeremy has worked in various restaurants since high school and enjoys the Casa environ-ment as well. We hope you will be able to enjoy a Casa prepared meal soon if you havent already.

From left to right: Jorge, Jake, Jeremy, Chef Elias, Juan, Santo


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Casa leadership planning for future through Franciscan lens

Our shared heritage of growth and change is calling us to our future. Our Casa church community is growing. From ourinception as the Conventual Church of Our Lady of Angels in March of 2006 we have gone from about 1,200 registeredpeople to 3,145 by September of 2010. In addition to the church, our ministries of retreats, education, counseling, social

justice and non-profit conferences are expanding. Our communal life and ministry is successful in attracting more peopleto come and be a part of our life together. People want to come to this place to know the Lord in response to the actionof the Spirit in their lives.

This holy place that we all love is challenged to continue developing in new directions by responding to the needs of allwho come here. In many ways we reflect the story of the church throughout the ages as we build a house where thePeople of God can gather, be renewed and minister together.

A central element in our communal story is the heritage passed on to us by the Franciscans. Indeed, it is the Franciscanelement that interprets our common past and future as we build the Kingdom of God and strengthen the Church. As theCasa has always done, we embrace present needs as a catalyst for self-reflection, change, and future direction. Thisdynamic of change has been a constant throughout our 59-year history and guides our present response tocontemporary opportunities.

One of the best-known attributes of St. Francis of Assisi was his embrace of poverty, Lady Poverty, as he made itknown. It was she who was the constant companion of our Lord from his birth to his death and burial. He did not praisethe material poverty of the destitute that is the result of human sinfulness and must be alleviated. In fact, the friarswere taught to beg alms for their own needs and for the needs of others. He was speaking of the poverty of spirit thatJesus taught.

It has seemed paradoxical to many people that such a concept should guide us as we sit on some of the most valuablereal estate in the country. As St. Bonaventure, a great Franciscan theologian noted however, truth is usually foundwithin the paradox. On one hand, St. Francis told that friars that they should never appropriate a place to themselves,neither a house nor a church nor anything else. On the other hand, he accepted an entire mountain in Tuscany andinsisted that the friars were to always keep the Church of Our Lady of the Angels near Assisi. See to it, my sons, thatyou never abandon this place. If you are driven out from one side, go back in from the other. The key to unlocking theparadox is in the theological idea of appropriation, that is, claiming ownership of the good.

We need to come to the realization that all good belongs to God, not to us. We are not the authors of goodness.Goodness is not our property to dispose of as we wish. In other words, we must not appropriate the good to ourselvesby bending it to selfish intentions. Jesus lived out this non-appropriation in his incarnation. St. Paul teaches us aboutthe Christ who did not cling to divinity, but rather, emptied himself of glory for the sake of humanity.

There are many stories in Franciscan history about non-appropriation. One day as St. Francis was crossing the Lake ofRieti near Greccio, someone gave him a waterfowl. Instead of having it killed to eat or giving it to the poor, St. Francissimply allowed the bird to do as it wished. It settled in his hands as if in a nest while St. Francis praised God for thegoodness of the bird. Later, he encouraged the bird to fly away. He never attempted to tame it or use it in any way. Inshort, he simply allowed it to demonstrate the good without appropriation to himself or anyone else. Non-appropriation isthe key to the paradox of poverty.

Applied to our situation, we recognize that the Casa is here for others, not to be appropriated but to be a source forgenerous help. At the Casa, Gods generosity challenges us. We must not appropriate the present reality of the Casa neither the buildings, liturgy, programs, or anything else. This does not mean that we should not have these things.What this means is that we must not control these things to fit the present reality only. What the future of the Casa willbe depends upon the good that God grants us - and how we choose to respond to that good. God is now choosing togrant us the good of more brothers and sisters. Will we choose to appropriate things the way they are or will we chooseto respond in ways that produce growth for the future? The Gospel of St. John challenges us to become somethinggreater. The grain of wheat, that is, what we are now, will just remain what it is unless we choose to respond to the callof the future and take bold steps to proclaim and become what we are called to be through the goodness of God.

It is our heritage that is calling us to our future. With the grace of God, let us make it a reality.


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5802E.LincolnDrive

ScottsdaleAZ85253

Phone:480.948.7460

800.356.3247

Fax:480.948.2325

Website:www.thecasa.org

E-mail:[email protected]

Franciscan Factoids: A forum for questions about Franciscan stuff

Ever been puzzled by a

Franciscanism aphrase, practice, or image

that repeatedly pops up in

Franciscan environments? If

so, submit your questions to

the newsletter! Bring them to

the front desk at the

Franciscan Renewal Center,

and write Franciscan

Factoids, attn.Newsletterat the top. You may also

submit your questions to

[email protected]. Write

Newsletter: FranciscanFactoids in the subject line.

Question: I realize thatFranciscan brothers arereferred to as friars. Inotice that members ofother orders are referred toas monks. What is thedifference between a monkand a friar?

"Monk" comes from the

greek "monos", meaning"alone". This is becausethe monastic traditionbegan with hermits livinga solitary, contemplativereligious life. Later, thestress changed from asolitary life to a communallife, though still largelycontemplative, and withthe community largelyseparated from thedistractions of the rest of

the world rather than theindividual."Friar" comes from theLatin "frater", meaning"brother". Communities offriars typically live a muchmore active lifestylewithin the world. The riseof friar communities is amore recent historicaldevelopment than that of

monastic orders.

There are also monasticand active religiouscommunities for women.Those which tend to followthe monastic model aretypically cloistered nunsand those that follow theactive model may also becalled nuns, or religioussisters.Some communities crossover into both categories,such as the Poor Clares

Franciscan Orders ofSisters. These originatefrom a Franciscanspirituality which is morefraternal than monastic,but the Poor Clares areusually cloisteredcommunities.

Winner announced

In Casa Newsletter

Naming Contest

We had many creativeand novel entriessubmitted for the contestbut in the end, simplicitywon out. Paula Pachek,a Casa Lector, submittedthe winning entry.The message thataccompanied her entrynoted that the Casa isnoted for Franciscansimplicity. The Sundaybulletin is referred to as

The Bulletin; the catalogis referred to as TheCatalog, so why compli-cate things and have aunique name for thenewsletter? Simply call itwhat it is: The CasaNewsletter. The judgesagreed and Paula is thewinner of dinner for two inthe Casa dining room.

Non-ProfitOrg.USPostage

PAID

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NewWebsiteislaunchedOur4thGenerationWebsitehasjustbeencompletedwithanentirelynewuser-friendlyformatandappearance.Manyofthefamiliarfrequentlyusedfeaturesarestilltherebutmanyareashavebeenimproved.Weinviteyoutocheckitoutandletusknowwhatyouthink.

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The Casa Newsletter - Fall 2010